


A Crowd of Choices (2000)

by lucasquinn



Series: Sharing a World [11]
Category: Primeval, Temeraire - Naomi Novik
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fusion, M/M, dragon!AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-29
Updated: 2013-10-29
Packaged: 2017-12-30 20:49:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,763
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1023224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lucasquinn/pseuds/lucasquinn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Now that he has a dragon, he needs a crew to man it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Crowd of Choices (2000)

**Author's Note:**

> This is a big jump into the AU world. Primeval but actually set in the future of the Temeraire Universe. There are still anomalies, there's still a team and there is even a research centre (yet unnamed). There has also been a slight twist in evolution somewhere along the line and one more sentient species shares the Earth with humans, dragons. Thanks to fredbassett all fics so far posted have been betaed.
> 
> One last thing, I might not have mentioned it in the intro but the number next to the title is the year the story takes place in since I tend to jump around in the timeline with this.
> 
> Follows right after An Unorthodox Start

Newly promoted Captain Jon Lyle was sitting on the battered grey couch that had come with his new quarters. The usual cup of tea had been replaced by coffee, the second one of the night to be correct, and the dark haired officer was currently cradling it in his hands as if his life depended on it.

Spread in front of him, on the low coffee table, were about two dozen personnel files that were currently being glared at, as if the pages and their content were the source of all Lyle’s problems. He was about to give into temptation and swipe the table clean of the entire lot. Right at that moment it felt like the headache he’d get trying to put everything back together would be quite worth the satisfaction. Before he had time to act, a sharp knock on the flat’s front door called his attention.

“Come on, mate, I know you’re in there. Open the bloody door and I might even feed you.”

Lyle chuckled and got up to let Ryan in.

“What the hell are you doing here? It’s got to be... Fuck, I have no idea what time it is apart from late or quite possibly early by now.” Lyle said with a dry grin, as he tried to grab the box of Chinese food from the other man’s hands, only to have his own slapped away sharply.

“Get off, it’s freezing cold.” Ryan told him with a scowl as he marched into the small kitchen and poured the food onto a large plate before shoving it in the microwave. “I came looking for you in Gostegion’s den and she told me she’d chased you off to bed about an hour ago, which most likely meant you were still up, working. I figured I’d come over and bug the crap out of you ‘til you actually do get some sleep.” The blond haired officer leaned back against the counter, wearing a look on his face that said he was prepared to drop kick Lyle to bed and tie him to it if he had to.

As usual, it was nowhere near enough to make the other captain actually listen to him without complaint.

“You two are a complete pain in my arse. I want to get through the crew selection and then forget about it, it’s driving me insane.” Lyle stalked towards the microwave and pulled the plate out as the timer went off. Feeling slightly self-conscious after his outburst he added, with a mutter, “Thanks for dinner.”

Ryan just rolled his eyes and left him to inhale the plate of food as he sat on the couch and started going through the mountain of paperwork on the coffee table. After a few quiet moments, filled only by Lyle’s hungry chomping and the shuffling of papers, Ryan frowned and asked without looking up. “Kenstone? Why does that name sound familiar?”

Lyle swallowed his food and pulled two cans of beer – the only thing he’d managed to stock the flat with so far – from the fridge. “His brother was a year behind us at the academy, held his alcohol like a girl but was a damn good shot.” Carrying both beers and the half-empty plate Lyle flopped down on the sofa next to the other officer.

“Big brother spoke for the kid then?” Ryan asked as he swiped a beer and took a long gulp.

“Nah, haven’t heard from him in ages. Flint recommended this one.” Lyle put down the now empty plate and took a swing of his own beer. “The old bugger says the kid is the best in his graduating class and Ghosty and I’d better snatch him quick. He seems to think we’ll need him more than him and Stringer would,” he added with a snort and a disgruntled expression that made the other captain chuckle.

“Right, so you’ve got your chicklet taken care of,” Ryan put Kenstone’s file to one side and kept going through the rest of the folders. Lyle had just drained the last of his beer when the other man elbowed him in the ribs. “Hey, I know this one.”

Taking a quick look at the file in the other soldier’s hands, Lyle frowned. “That was in the pile I made for new transfers into Wing Troop.”

Ryan rolled his eyes at the other man and flipped through the personnel file in his hands. “I know it was. Sometimes it scares the crap out of me how I even understand half of what you blather about and a third of what you think, mate.” The words were followed by a soft grunt as Lyle jammed an elbow in his side. In the quick scuffle that followed the file and its contents ended up strewn over half the living room floor, so that by the time a slightly winded, but victorious, Ryan propped himself up from the floor, he only had to reach out to pick up the front page with the picture of a dark haired, skinny young soldier attached to it.

“Robert D. Finn. He’s a mate of Blade’s from Air Troop. He’s come down to the local with us a couple of times so far. Niall says he’s one of the best snipers he’s ever seen. After him, of course.” Ryan said, grinning. With a grunt and a hard shove that sent the other officer sprawling, Lyle pushed Ryan off his back and sat up to have a look at the scattered pages again.

“He might be an ace shooter on firm ground but we’d still have to see what his aim is like from dragon-back. I guess if he comes with Blade’s endorsement, though, he’s worth a meet.” Lyle put the soldier’s file down on top of the first one and sighed as he took in the mess of papers scattered all over the room.

“You do know you need to pick a Lieutenant, right?” Ryan was picking up what appeared to be random pages but turned out instead to be the front covers of the files for the four officers qualified enough to become Gostegion’s new Lieutenant. As Lyle sat back down on the couch, the other Captain laid the papers down on the now empty coffee table before sitting next to him.

“Corporals J. Sanders and A. Langton, Sergeant D. Mather and Second Lieutenant A. Kodi.” Ryan read the names out loud. “Kodi is a coming up to be a great officer, Chandra and Chester, the Moonray she serves on, worked on a couple of missions together last year…” the soldier paused a moment, barely stopping himself from adding that Julian Alridge, his and Chandrakant’s former captain had really taken a shine to the outspoken, diminutive officer. Lyle’s knee nudged his own gently and Ryan smiled weakly back.

“She sounds pretty good but I read all their files and Mather sounds like the best of the lot so far. He has an history of saying exactly what he thinks, and I want a Lieutenant who can think independently and be able to take over if needs be,” Lyle said and picked up the page with the man’s picture on it. Sgt Mather looked to be in his early thirties, a mop of long inky black hair shadowing one side of his handsome olive-skinned face.

“That and the fact you can be a stubborn sod and need someone able to hammer an inkling of sense in that brain of yours, from time to time.” Ryan snorted softly and nudged the other soldier.

“That too.” Lyle grinned before looking at the picture seriously again. “It’s just that he’s past thirty and still only a Sergeant. Either his file is not telling the whole story or this guy has seriously pissed off some of the brass.”

Ryan raised an eyebrow and smiled at the other Captain. “Sounds like someone you could easily get along with then.” Lyle scowl didn’t faze him and he went on. “Why don’t you and Gostegion meet up with both him and Kodi before you make up your mind? That way you can get a feel for the lad and if you don’t like him you always have Alisha as a back up.”

“I guess we could do that. I can trust Ghosty’s instincts about this kind of thing, she has good taste after all.” Lyle said, grinning smugly.

“Wait a sec, maybe it’s not as good an idea as I thought at first. She did pick you after all.” Ryan smoothly replied with a grin of his own. The remark would have probably been enough to spark off a second round of ‘see who kisses the carpet first’ if Ryan had decided to let it go that far. Instead, the blond officer pinned Lyle down to the back of the sofa and grinned at the other soldier’s disgruntled expression.

“You know, you’re usually not this easy to beat. Sometimes you can even give me a run for my money,” Ryan said, with a smile. “Why don’t you go to bed and we can take this up tomorrow, when you can try to prove me you don’t always fight like a girl?”

He had barely finished speaking that the other soldier had twisted under him like an eel and reversed their positions. “You were saying something, sweetheart?” This time it was Lyle’s turn to grin as he held the other Captain down.

“I said you should get your arse to bed and catch a few hours rest. I’m also still willing to shackle you to the bed to make sure you stay there.” Ryan chuckled.

“Oh kinky, I like that.” Lyle leered back at him and earned himself a swat on the back of the head for his trouble.

“Sleep tonight.” Ryan glared but could not help adding with a grin. “We’ll see if there’s time for anything else tomorrow morning.”

Lyle snorted softly and pulled back with a smile, getting up from the sofa and consciously ignoring the wreck that was currently the living room of his small captain’s quarters.

“Since you’re staying over, does it mean I get coffee in bed tomorrow morning?” he asked, bright hazel eyes twinkling.

Ryan laughed and headed for the bedroom. “Depends on how good you are at giving head first thing in the morning, Jon,” the soldier threw over his shoulder before disappearing into the other room.

Lyle chuckled and followed, only pausing long enough to switch off the lights before leaning against the bedroom doorframe. The blond Captain was already stripped to the waist, the well-toned body marked by scars Lyle was as familiar with as if they were his own. Frowning, he noticed fresh dark bruises running around the other man’s waist and up to his shoulders, along the straps of the harness.

“Nice stripes you’ve got there, Tom.”

Ryan shrugged before kicking his trainers off and flopping back comfortably on the bed. After a moment longer, he sighed and wriggled out of the trousers, tossing them in the general direction of the dresser before stretching out again, a pair of boxer shorts the only thing he was left wearing.

“I bet Macallister’s bloody glad you moved out. Won’t have to fight over the tropical temperature you insist on keeping in the room. I swear it’s like a sodding sauna in here.” Ryan’s grumbling only provoked a quick eye roll before Lyle moved further into the room and quickly followed the other soldier’s example.

“Shove over, you hog. At least now my arse doesn’t have to either freeze or hang off the bed, depending if we slept in your room or mine. Also, cut the crap. What’s with the stripes? You might be a clumsy oaf when you’re trying to shove your cock into a tight hole but I’ve not seen you with harness bruises in years.” The words where coupled with what passed among soldiers for a friendly shove, which earned Lyle a mild glare followed by an exasperated look.

“Has anyone ever told you you’re a right pain in the arse and stubborn as a sodding mule?”

“At least once a day on weekdays and twice on a weekend,” replied Lyle smoothly, with a grin. The other soldier rolled his eyes at the come back but sighed, knowing that Lyle would not leave things well alone.

“I sodding slipped during a night training run the other day. No big deal.” Which for most people would have conveyed well enough the intended message, ‘Back the fuck off.” It wasn’t obviously anywhere near enough for Lyle who simply rolled over on to his side and watched the other man with a look that telegraphed quite clearly exactly the amount of bullshit he thought Ryan was full of.

“I slipped and Chandra freaked out. By the time we managed to calm him down enough to land we were all about ready to lose dinner. Little Kermit did toss his cookies actually.” There, he said it. It wasn’t that bad after all.

Hell, who the fuck was he kidding? It sounded as bad as it had done in his head.

“It’s not even been six months, Tom. I think the brass are expecting too much out of him.” Ryan didn’t need to be a mind reader to hear the ‘and of you’ that Lyle didn’t voice.

“Right now all Chandra probably wants to do is grab you and shove you into a bubble. The fact that he’s been out there running drills and night training exercises for close to four months is already a sodding miracle.” It was also a miracle that Ryan didn’t jump right out of his skin as the other Captain’s thumb brushed against a long scar running down the left side of his chest, one of the many he had collected the night the rest of Chandrakant’s crew had died.

As it was. instead, he managed to will his body to relax, the scar tissue, more sensitive than its smooth surroundings, causing him to shiver under Lyle’s touch.

“I think what you need is to relax and let time do its job.” This time the words were whispered against his collarbone, Lyle’s lips leaving a path of gooseflesh after themselves as they moved along his neck, while the dark haired captain’s fingers traced patterns over his chest and stomach.

“And as usual your solution for helping someone to relax is to shag them through the mattress, I assume?” Even if Lyle had been deaf and unable to hear the gentle teasing in Ryan’s words, the way the other soldier’s body reacted to his touch was enough to confirm that he wasn’t in fact complaining in any way about his plan.

“I was thinking about something a little less energetic but I can always grab one of your poncy books and read to you till you fall asleep.” This time Lyle’s teeth scraped over a shoulder, one of his hands slipping inside Ryan’s underwear as their bodies seemingly moved closer of their own volition.

“Hmmm, we can probably save that for another time.” Ryan had barely spoken when firm lips were pressing against his own; a slick, warm tongue followed, pushing its way into his mouth, Jon’s stubble against his chin making everything feel sharper and sending a shiver through his body.

In moments, both sets of underwear were gone and the soft gasp that filled the room as skin finally touched skin again could have come from either mouth. For once there was none of the usual haste nor the playful struggle for control that tended to turn most of their encounters into wrestling matches.

Two sets of harness-roughened hands mapped well known bodies.

Two sets of lips and teeth traced their way over scarred and smooth skin, both with the same degree of concentration.

Two sets of voices rose and lowered into the darkness as bodies intertwined and skin made slick with sweat slid easily against skin.

Two sets of fingers finally wrapped their way around hard, aching cocks, each movement making the pleasure spiral higher and ever sweeter until it reached its peak, heralded by broken cries of completion.

After somehow mustering the energy to clean both of them up, Lyle managed to wrestle the other man around until Ryan’s head was resting comfortably on his shoulder, a heavy and completely relaxed arm thrown over his waist. As Ryan fell asleep, the last thing he was aware of was a brush of lips against his hair and for a long moment everything was the way it was supposed to be.


End file.
